The time has past when digital technology in translation was no more than a supporting tool. The digital revolution is transforming the landscape of translation theory and practice. From translation memory tools to online corpora and databases, to machine translation and to cloud-based workspaces, technology is making translation more effective and time-efficient, while changing the roles and profiles of translators themselves. Furthermore, beyond enhancing and facilitating the translator’s work, the new technologies are making a profound impact on the very nature of our discipline. The conventional model of one-on-one agency and client is being replaced by a vast global network of faceless, and loosely connected, translators and customers, where the distinction between professional and non-professional translation is often blurred. New modes of translation, such as fansubbing, fandubbing, and crowdsourcing, are challenging the traditional structure of the translation market. Furthermore, translators (professional and otherwise) are using the new communication and collaboration tools to connect with other translators across geographical barriers, engaging translation in political or social causes on an unprecedented scale.

We believe that such developments call for new ways of theorizing translation theory and practice—be it pedagogy and training, translation tools and strategies, as well as the cultural and socio-political aspects of translation.